1. Field
The present disclosure relates to network monitoring and troubleshooting. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for detecting a routing path in a network implementing the Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) protocol.
2. Related Art
Conventional Ethernet bridges can transparently connect many physical links into what appears to Internet Protocol (IP) or other layer-3 protocol to be a single local area network (LAN). However, the spanning tree requirement of bridges can have substantial limitations. With spanning trees, the bandwidth across the LAN is limited because traffic flows over a subset of links forming a single tree or a small number of superimposed trees. On the other hand, IP routing requires that hosts be renumbered (be assigned a different IP address) when relocated in different network subnets, interrupting network and transport associations that are in progress during the transition.
The Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) protocol combines the advantages of bridges and routers by running a link state protocol among the interconnected bridges, which are now called RBridges or routing bridges. Like any other type of network, a TRILL network needs to be monitored and maintained on a regular basis to ensure its proper operation. However, at present, TRILL networks lack many of the network control and management functions available in layer-3 networks.